James Edwards Yancey was born 20th February, 1894 – 1903 in Chicago, Illinois. There appears to be some uncertainty over his exact birth date/year. His father was guitarist and singer and his older brother ‘Alonzo Yancey’ was also a pianist, so by the age of ten, Jimmy Yancy had toured across America as a tap dancer and singer. He began teaching himself to play the piano by the time he was fifteen years old, becoming quite accomplished by 1915 and was an influence on younger pianist like Albert Ammons and Mead Lux Lewis.
He wasn’t always a professional pianist though, during World War One, Yancey played baseball for the Chicago All-Americans and between 1925 and 1950 he worked as a grounds-keeper for the Chicago White Sox.
His playing style was quite unique, of course it had the usual characteristic repeated patterns in the left-hand, but it was a little more subtle and perhaps less hard driving and he created a left-hand pattern that is known as the ‘Yancey Bass’ line. Meade Lux Lewis actually wrote a song named ‘Yancey Special’. Yancey favoured keys—such as E-flat and A-flat—that were atypical for barrel-house blues. Distinctively, he ended many pieces in the key of E-flat, even if he had played in a different key until the ending. He was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.
Jimmy Yancey was very influential, although he didn’t record early in his career (like so many others) but performed at parties and clubs for years, up until 1939 that is. Most of his recordings were solo piano, although he did record some pieces with his wife ‘Estelle Yancey’ or ‘Mamma Yancey’ singing with him.
Jimmy Yancey passed away because of a diabetes induced stroke in Chicago, 17th September, 1951. I consider him to be among the most influenial of the early boogie woogie pianist, along with the likes of Albert Ammons, Meade Lux Lewis and Pete Johnson.
| Jimmy Yancy | Year |
| Beezum Blues Big Bear Train Janie’s Joys Jimmy’s Stuff How Long Blues How Long Blues No. 2 Lean Bacon LaSalle Street Breakdown Lucille’s Lament P.L.K Special Rolling The Stone South Side Stuff Steady Rock Blues Two o’clock Blues The Fives Yancy Getaway Yancy Limited Five o’clock Blues Slow and Easy Blues State Street Special Tell ‘Em About Me The Mellow Blues Yancy Stomp Bear Trap Blues Crying in My Sleep Death Letter Blues I Love to Hear My Baby Call My Name Old Quaker Blues 35th and Dearborn Yancey’s Bugle Call Boodlin’ Jimmy’s Rocks Yancey’s Mixture | 1939 1939 1939 1939 1939 1939 1939 1939 1939 1939 1939 1939 1939 1939 1939 1939 1939 1939 1939 1939 1939 1939 1939 1940 1940 1940 1940 1940 1940 1940 1943 1943 1943 |